Raven Hill Discovery Center
is the proud recipient of the 2005 Crooked Tree Arts Center
eddi Award for Arts and Cultural Organizations
Raven Hill
Discovery Center is the only place in northern Lower Michigan
where science, history and art connect for children and adults
through hands-on activities and explorations, both indoors and
outdoors. Connections emerge through classes, exhibits and facilities
that provide opportunities for all ages to learn, create, grow
and play.
Summer Hours:
10 am to 4 pm Monday through Friday ~
12 pm to 4 pm Saturday ~ 2 pm to 4 pm Sunday and ALWAYS by appointment
from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
Earth
Journey: Walk to support Raven Hill any time. Purchase
a passport and add stickers as you visit different exhibits
at the Center. Beautiful limited edition Raven Hill Discovery
Center “Earth Journey” T-shirts are also available
with a map of the grounds in full color right on the shirt.
Walk, roll, stroll around
Raven Hill for as little or long as you wish ~ Stop and play
along the way ~ Take time to enjoy Near and Far ~ Now and Then
~ Exhibits and Demos
New
Exhibit: The Tree House
Designed
and built in the shape of a maple leaf by Poineau Woodworkers
of East Jordan, Michigan through a grant awarded by the Michigan
Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs and the National Endowment
for the Arts, plus many private donations, the Tree House connects
science and art. Panels are being decorated by local schools
and inside, visitors can play with a marble roll, leave notes
on chalkboard circles, ring the dinner triangle, examine a tree
trunk up close and personal and soon will also be able to look
through kaleidescopes, periscopes and telescopes. The stem of
the leaf forms a barrier free ramp for everyone's convenience.
Contact
information
Phone:
231.536.3369 or tollfree 877.833.4254 ~ Fax:
231.536.0132 ~ Email: info@ravenhilldiscoverycenter.org
~ Address:
4737 Fuller Road, East Jordan, Michigan 49727
The Center
is open year round Saturdays
12 - 4pm and Sundays 2 - 4pm. Between Memorial Day and Labor
Day, Raven Hill is also open daily 10 am to 4 pm as well as
our regular weekend hours. We are always
open by appointment and over most holiday periods, but please
call to confirm exact days and hours and winter road conditions.
Admission price is $7.00
per person, except for babies in backpacks or strollers, and
includes time in the hands-on museum, a visit with the animals,
access to the one room schoolhouse and outdoor exhibits, such
as Beyond Jurassic Park, Ancient World, Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail
and the Stone Labyrinth. The average visit is one and a half
to two hours. Exhibits are appropriate for all ages, from one
to one hundred!! Gift shop and picnic area available. Activities
are individually priced, over and above admission price.
2008
Summer Hours
Between
Memorial Day and Labor Day, Raven Hill is open weekdays 10 am
to 4 pm as well as 12 to 4 pm on Saturdays and 2 to 4 pm on
Sundays. Treat yourself
and your family to a day or an afternoon of fun and exploration
at Raven Hill Discovery Center this summer. You can build connections
between science, history and the arts in an interactive learning
environment. In addition to playing in the hands-on museum and
holding the exotic animals, you can also spend time in the one-room
schoolhouse, see the geologic history of the earth in the Exploring
Beyond Jurassic Park outdoor exhibit, stroll through various
cultures in the Ancient World and take a peek at the Center’s
“in-progress” latest exhibit, the Energy House,
which is solar powered. Plan at least 2 hours or more, if you
are taking a class or experiencing any of the outdoor exhibits.
AND--feel
free to email us (look up & left)
and share your experiences, comments and suggestions about our
facilities, exhibits and programs. Your input is appreciated.
Stroll through
Raven Hill Discovery Center's "Exploring Beyond Jurassic
Park" and learn about the Earth's Geologic History before
and after the dinosaurs. Pteranodon sculpture of welded steel
by Bill Allen.
Raven Hill Discovery
Center's Ancient World Exhibit includes a working factory site
with 4 primitve pottery kilns, a glass furnace, a beading furnace
and a copper smelter.
Classes
for children and adults are available any time by appointment.
Call 231.536.3369 to book a specific class to fit your interests
and choose a day and time to fit your individual schedule......Teachers
can book field trips and outreach programs for their students......Graduate
credit classes for educators through Central Michigan
University are offered year-round: two consecutive weekends
during the school year and one week during the summer months......Scouts
and other youth organizations can schedule day programs or overnights
to work on activities to fulfill badges, patches or pins......Families
will enjoy spending quality time with their children and grandchildren......Hikers
and walkers looking for
new trails to explore will find multiple opportunities for easy
to "black diamond" paths.
Want to
know more? Following is a
"Short
History of Raven Hill Discovery Center"
Raven Hill Discovery
Center, 2005 Crooked Tree Arts Center eddi Award recipient for
Arts and Cultural Organizations, was established in 1992 as
a regional science and technology center. Raven Hill is a 501
(C) (3) organization. It is located on 157 acres adjacent to
Little Traverse Conservancy’s Raven Ridge Nature Preserve.
It is also a cultural, historical and art center. The overall
goal of the Center is to build lifelong connections for children
and adults that link science, history and the arts in a hands-on
learning environment. Over the past fifteen years Raven Hill
Discovery Center has had more than 115,000 visitors experience
science and technology, history and the arts through hands-on
exhibits and displays. Indoors, visitors can explore museum
exhibits like a wellness center, walk-in kaleidoscope, musical
instruments, generator bike, magnet table, loom, gyro cycle,
old-fashioned games, laser and plasma lamp, motion displays,
as well as many displays and collections of science, history
and art. In addition, the animal room is full of live animals,
including snakes, lizards, turtles, and spiders. Out-buildings
include a Time Tunnel, Print Shop, Art Pavilion, Raven Hill
Schoolhouse, plus a Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail, Energy House, caboose
and forge that are in various stages of completion or restoration.
Outdoor exhibits range from medicinal gardens, Exploring Beyond
Jurassic Park, The Ancient World, labyrinth, wetlands boardwalk,
the Taxonomic (Taxi) Trail and a half-acre pond. Programs include
professional development workshops for teachers and graduate
classes through Central Michigan University, school field trips,
scout activities, summer day camp, adult enrichment classes
and family days. The museum is also open to the general public.
In addition, there have been over 70,000 contact hours with
teachers and students in area classrooms during the last twelve
years as a result of Raven Hill’s Outreach Program. Raven
Hill is unique in northern Michigan. It draws regularly from
a twelve county area during the school year and from across
the United States and the world during the summer tourist season.
The Center is open year-round to the public, individuals, groups,
and organizations.
*Long
History of Raven Hill Discovery Center*
